Collecting auction catalogs offering 1804 dollars: Numismatic Bookie

Specialized collection of catalogs spans more than a century

While an 1804 dollar does appear on the cover of an auction catalog recently added to the author's column, one is cataloged inside. Original coin images courtesy of Stack's Bowers Galleries.

This Parke-Bernet auction catalog displays a Saint-Gaudens double eagle on the cover, but the images of an 1804 dollar inside are what make it part of a specialized field: auction catalogs offering an 1804 dollar. Image provided by author.

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in May, the Numismatic Bookie bought an 1804 silver dollar for $15.
OK, it was really my wife, Florence, who made the purchase, and the
1804 dollar was actually photographed in an auction catalog. This
experience, however, illustrates how you can build an important
numismatic library without breaking your budget.

Antique
fairs, flea markets, book sales: bargain-priced numismatic literature
hides in them all. We attended the annual Rhinebeck, New York antiques
fair, but it could have been any sale, anywhere. Florence spied a
Parke-Bernet catalog featuring an 1804 dollar (although its cover
depicted a 1907 Saint-Gaudens, Roman Numerals double eagle), at a
dealer’s booth, and quickly paid the $15 asking price.

Not
only was Florence’s find a bargain, it was also inspiring. The 1804
Draped Bust dollar — “The King of American Coins” as dealer B. Max
Mehl called it — has been the straw that stirs a coin collector’s
drink ever since the first one was revealed in 1842. One of the
greatest numismatic books ever written — The Fantastic 1804
Dollar — exposed this storied coin as a novodel, struck illegally
long after the date on its face, but nonetheless, at every public
auction appearance, a bidding frenzy erupts. So why not try collecting
one copy of every auction catalog offering an 1804 dollar for sale?

If
you love challenges, this one will turn your crank. You’ll need to
find more than 50 catalogs, ranging in age from 148 years to few
months, and in price from hundreds to the $15 Florence paid. Most are
American, some British, and one is German. Most are relatively common,
some are rare and expensive, and a few are uncommon, yet inexpensive.
It will take years of work with numismatic literature dealers, but
when finished, you’ll have a superb catalog collection.

Two
“keys” are required to complete such a set. The first is the oldest:
W. Elliot Woodward’s sale of the Joseph J. Mickley Collection, Oct.
28, 1867. The second is the rarest: Adolph Weyl’s sale of Oct. 13,
1884, which featured, glued to its cover, a photograph of a plaster
cast of the 1804 dollar known as the Dexter specimen. Why photograph a
plaster cast instead of the real coin? No one knows, although theories abound

The
Parke-Bernet catalog offers a different example, the Davis specimen.
After Philadelphia numismatist Robert Coulton Davis purchased this
coin from John Haseltine in 1877, he sought assurance from the U.S.
Mint that it was an “original” coin (today called a Class 1 dollar,
struck around 1834). Mint Assayer William Dubois compared the Davis
specimen (today called a Class III dollar, struck around 1858), with
the Class I dollar in the Mint Cabinet (museum), and declared that
Davis owned an “original” issue. Dubois was a knowledgeable
numismatist and longtime curator of the Mint Cabinet who knew the
differences between Class I and Class III 1804 dollars, which are
readily obvious upon comparison. Dubois simply lied to Davis.

Too
bad for Mr. Davis, but good for us. The story of 1804 dollars is
chock-a-block with intrigue, skullduggery, and double-dealing. A
collection of such catalogs provides hours of fascinating reading as
you trace how people over decades pieced together the truly fantastic
history of the 1804 dollar.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.